Poly with problems

knightsaber

New member
HI all, I have ended up here after a very difficult time in my life and having finally come to terms with who I am and what I want, having already had it and lost it because I didn't understand my feelings until it was to late.

I feel the need to tell this story and share with people who may understand rather than those who will just dismiss it as disgusting and wrong.

I live in Sheffield the UK, I am currently seeing a married woman who I am very much in Love with yet there used to be so much more.

about a year ago friends approached me and my then girlfriend X about possibly being involved in a cross couple poly relationship. It was something we had never ruled out of our relationship and we where both open minded individuals so after some long talks we decided to give it a shot. initially it was supposed to be a once a month sort of situation but we very quickly fell into a routine of seeing each other multipul times a week, at there house or ours. or going away for the weekends together. Everything seemed fine for a long time but problems began to surface when I perceived that X seemed to be a lot happier both physicaly and emotionally when with the other guy. Partly because we where growing apart due to various health issues and home life. she said repeatedly this wasn't the case but her actions spoke more to me than her words and soon I became jealous. Looking back this jealousy became all encompassing and actually blinded me to the amazing relationship we had with the other couple. There was so much Love about the 4 of us, and I forgot to look at the good parts, my girlfriend was so much happier I was the happiest Id been in my life yet I couldn't see it.

About a month ago I decided I needed to end it with them despite still having strong feelings for the other woman involved. I ended it and my girl friend immediatly left me blaming my anxiety and jealousy issues over the break up rather than the fact she could no longer see him.

People tell me its the loss I feel from losing X that makes me feel this way but in all honesty it isn't, after I forced us apart I realized the feelings I had for the other woman involved where much more than just strong. I had fallen in Love and had blinded my self to it. I had taken X from someone she and I cared about very much and had hurt them terribly. I stopped and finally thought about the times we had shared together as a 4 and realized I shouldn't have been jealous the times we all shared together where the best of my life.

Me and X are now seperated, she is now seeing the guy involved again and I am now seeing the other woman again. she makes me happy and I can accept the relationship as it is and for who I am. I feel great sorrow for what we all lost because I let 1 thing consume me, when I should have just talked more about it and sought help for issues of anxiety and relationship with X.

I am Poly I want it as part of my Life, yet I think I may struggle to find another partener like X that accepts this relationship the way it is.

I'm sorry for the way I refer to people as the guy and other woman I don't wish to use names.
 
About a month ago I decided I needed to end it with them despite still having strong feelings for the other woman involved. I ended it and my girl friend immediatly left me blaming my anxiety and jealousy issues over the break up rather than the fact she could no longer see him.
Why couldn't she continue seeing them and also be with you? You broke off your relationship with them, she didn't have to stop seeing them when you stopped.

Me and X are now seperated, she is now seeing the guy involved again and I am now seeing the other woman again. she makes me happy and I can accept the relationship as it is and for who I am. I feel great sorrow for what we all lost because I let 1 thing consume me, when I should have just talked more about it and sought help for issues of anxiety and relationship with X.

I am Poly I want it as part of my Life, yet I think I may struggle to find another partener like X that accepts this relationship the way it is.
Okay, so you got back together with the woman who is part of the other couple. And your old gf is seeing this woman's husband again. But you want your old gf back, too? Is that the issue? Is there a reason why can't you talk to her about it?
 
Hi I should have probably pointed out, initially the relationship was arranged as a cross couple situation on our side, if one wasn't happy we would stop scenario. I pointed out my problems with seeing her with him and that I was feeling jealous. because she seemed to want him and not me, in actual fact it was more of a problem in our relationship that was causing my issues of jealousy. Primarily me having anxiety issues and us not spending time together because of that, the anxiety also led to me having problems obsessing over certain things. My focus on making X happy was also focused in the wrong areas and this only added to the strain. Unfortunately I was so blinded by my issues at the time I couldn't stop and look at the situation clearly.

Again I don't believe I feel this way because I want her back, I do want her back, but this is how I feel about the idea of being in the cross couple relationship and also being able to live without the restrictions of mono relationship. Its a wonderful thing to be able to have that freedom and X left me because that is what she wanted and I was holding her back from it. Its only afterward that I have realised how beautiful a thing that kind of relationship is, it allowed all that Love into my life and I fell in Love again which was a wonderful feeling. I miss X I miss the other Guy involved I miss us all spending time together that we used to.

X has already decided that my previous/ongoing issues are to much for her to live with and she no longer feels the same about me. that's why shes leaving.
 
Last edited:
I am the married woman in question!

I've been on this forum for a while but mostly only lurked rather than posted (knightsaber didn't know I was a member when he joined).

We're currently trying to adjust to a new routine based on the new set up of relationships, which is a bit weird but I'm hopeful (I'm always hopeful - I'm an eternal optimist!). My husband also recently started another relationship with someone new, currently long-distance but may not be soon, so that adds another factor into the mix...
 
Hi and welcome!

My husband also recently started another relationship with someone new, currently long-distance but may not be soon, so that adds another factor into the mix...

So, she is in addition to Knightsaber's ex-gf, whom your husband is also seeing, correct? If his ex is still seeing your husband, but not speaking to Knightsaber anymore, does that create tension among you all and make things difficult?

(Just trying to get clear on who all the players are and the dynamic)
 
about a year ago friends approached me and my then girlfriend X about possibly being involved in a cross couple poly relationship. It was something we had never ruled out of our relationship and we where both open minded individuals so after some long talks we decided to give it a shot. initially it was supposed to be a once a month sort of situation but we very quickly fell into a routine of seeing each other multipul times a week, at there house or ours. or going away for the weekends together. Everything seemed fine for a long time but problems began to surface when I perceived that X seemed to be a lot happier both physicaly and emotionally when with the other guy. Partly because we where growing apart due to various health issues and home life. she said repeatedly this wasn't the case but her actions spoke more to me than her words and soon I became jealous.

This is a common concern for poly newbies (I've experienced it as well). It's called NRE, new relationship energy. The first few months of a new relationship are intoxicating. Infatuation causes all kinds of strong hormones to be released, leading to an obsessive feeling. The primary relationship can seem lesser for a while, since that relationship involved lots of day to day things (household management, illness, children, etc.).


There is an art to managing NRE. Do a tag search here on NRE for how people cope.

I was the happiest Id been in my life yet I couldn't see it.

You were happy in your own NRE with Papillon, yet X's NRE drove you crazy. if only you'd known it would fade over time (for all of you), and meanwhile knew the coping strategies to keep your primary relationship strong while you were both in NRE with others!


About a month ago I decided I needed to end it with them despite still having strong feelings for the other woman involved. I ended it and my girl friend immediatly left me blaming my anxiety and jealousy issues over the break up rather than the fact she could no longer see him.

So, you had that kind of veto power over who X could be with?

However, it's not over. Both of you are still seeing the members of the other couple.

I had taken X from someone she and I cared about very much and had hurt them terribly. I stopped and finally thought about the times we had shared together as a 4 and realized I shouldn't have been jealous the times we all shared together where the best of my life.

Poly life lesson learned! By the way, it's OK to feel jealousy. Most of us do. It's how you handle the jealousy that counts.
Me and X are now separated, she is now seeing the guy involved again and I am now seeing the other woman again. she makes me happy and I can accept the relationship as it is and for who I am. I feel great sorrow for what we all lost because I let 1 thing consume me, when I should have just talked more about it and sought help for issues of anxiety and relationship with X.

I am Poly I want it as part of my Life, yet I think I may struggle to find another partner like X that accepts this relationship the way it is.

Perhaps there is still a chance for you 2 to get back together, if you are able to educate yourself more around jealousy and NRE and show her what you've learned... How long had you and X been together before you started up with Papillon and her husband? How long had you lived together? Where are you and X living now?
 
Last edited:
So, she is in addition to Knightsaber's ex-gf, whom your husband is also seeing, correct? If his ex is still seeing your husband, but not speaking to Knightsaber anymore, does that create tension among you all and make things difficult?

(Just trying to get clear on who all the players are and the dynamic)

Yep, that's correct. He is seeing two people in addition to me, and I am seeing Knightsaber in addition to him.

There is definitely tension at the moment - this all happened very recently & we're still trying to figure out exactly how things need to be now. It's also complicated by the fact that my husband has been upset/angered by some things that happened recently and it has jeopardised the friendship between him and Knightsaber. My husband & I don't have veto power (barring any exceptional circumstances where something was really adversely affecting our relationship) and anyway he has already told me that he doesn't want to stop me doing anything in this case as long as I'm considerate of his feelings, so my relationship with Knightsaber is not at risk.

I'm hopeful that they can repair their friendship, but in the meantime our 'rule' has always been that everyone has to be able to be civil, not that everyone has to be best mates ('our' in this case refers to me & my husband - it's one of the things we agreed on when we opened our relationship last year).
 
Last edited:
Okay, thanks for the clarification. Now I have another question to both of you. What is it that the two of you, Papillon and Knightsaber, are seeking here on this forum?

Is there a particular problem or circumstance that you need advice or feedback on, or is this just a safe place to vent some difficult feelings? In other words, how can we help?
 
Like I said, I've been lurking here for months - I find it useful and interesting to read everyone's stories and see the advice that is given in various situations. I figured I'd post if I ever had a question I couldn't work out the answer to by reading other threads... :p

I saw Knightsaber's post, realised it was him & figured I'd better point out I was a member here! I said I was happy to either leave this thread to him, or post & add my perspective, and he asked me to post so I did.
 
As said previously I didn't realize papillon was a member here. I joined because I have struggled with my feelings and have been trying to figure out myself over the past month, it hasnt been as simple as I broke off with papillon and her husband X was upset so left and that was the end of it. I just wanted to be able to talk to like minded people and see what thier point of view is on the situation.

Me and X where together for about 5 and half years before we coupled with papillon and her husband, we lived together for a year before it happened.

Less than a few days of breaking things off with Papillon and her husband I realized something was wrong I didnt just miss X I missed Papillon alot more than I realized I would and missed her husband. I missed what we had together. Initially this led me to say to X that I would probably be ok with the cross coupling again but needed time, she tried to work things out with me but couldnt as she said she no longer felt the same and didnt want to be limited in her relationships the way I had proposed. so she ended it finally.

I have done alot of soul searching in the past few weeks, read a lot and written a lot about myself, X, papillon and her husband. Everyone keeps saying my mind is changing all the time because I'm desperate to get X back but regardless of if she will be with me again in the future or never I believe I want to persue this, I love papillon very much but am now totally open to other relationships. I wouldnt Leave Papillon if she had other partners and I wouldnt stop X from having further partners. Unfortunately it has taken this turn of events to actually make me realize this about myself.

Right now things are tense becuase I still Love X very much and seeing her with papillons husband and not being able to be with her is hurting a lot. I am jealous of him for this I dont want to be but I am. I care for them both.

X is currently in the process of moving out, we are still living together but she doesn't want to be there and its very difficult atm.

I have made a lot of mistakes and let jealousy rule my emotions when I should have been managing it.
 
Last edited:
You say you're changing your mind a lot right now... well, duh! :D

You just opened up a huge amount of emotions, thoughts and feelings you never had before, and didnt' really have the skills (yet!) to cope with them. It happens to a lot of people! I think it's great that you're actually working through the thoughts and feelings instead of just reacting (though I'm sure reactions happen!), and that's great stuff!! It's also not easy, and sometimes unpleasant. :-/

Perhaps you need a bit of time to sit with what's gone on so far, and let it settle a bit? X seems to have made up her mind to move out, so perhaps letting her have the space and time for now while you work through your stuff? I know that when things are shifting/changing it can make us cling more or try to "work harder" to get everything to work out "right" (i.e. the way we want them). Unfortunately, sometimes things work out they way they want to, or should, and that's not always the way we'd choose.

And, I think, maybe some time of just "being", might be nice for everybody so that they can kind of assess what's gone on, assimilate the changes, and adapt a bit. You can see where you all are at that point. Just be caring, thoughtful and respectful in the meantime and I think some time will help.
 
I know its very early after whats happened, but because of the way the everything has ended up I fear I may struggle to form future meaningful relationships with other females as I don't know if Ill find anyone that will accept my relationship with Papillon the way X did.
 
Knightsaber, perhaps it will help to remember that one person cannot always be "all" or meet all needs of another. I consider this the very essence of poly.

The topic which comes up from time to time when I discuss alternative relationships with "mono" friends is that I'm somehow cheating my wife by not asking for a divorce before persuing other relationships. Honestly, I think the opposite is truth. I believe the other relationships fufill needs not being met inside the marriage relationship both non sexual and sexual.

I'm new to trying to understand poly too. The one truth I have found is that complete honesty in communications both helps and hinders the journey, you have to accept that jealious is part of the emotional package. We all need to keep trying.

Intimacy without sex may be one option you could consider for starting new relationships. Everyone needs to be comfortable in their relationship status before the passions ensues. In my view, it gives you a safe corner, if challenges force changes in the relationship.
 
Back
Top